Recalling the events with Seo yesterday, Riley brushed aside a curtain of tall, sweeping leaves, his steps slowing for a moment as he carefully surveyed the area around him.
"We're getting close," he said, his voice steady.
"Can you feel any celestial energy, Rose?"
Rose, walking just behind him, closed her eyes for a second and focused her senses.
A faint shimmer of mana brushed against her perception.
"It's weak," she replied, golden eyes narrowing slightly, "but... there really is something."
"Good," Riley said. "We should hurry."
Picking up their pace, both of them expanded their mana senses outward like a second layer of vision, scanning deeper into the dense, twilight-draped forest of the academy grounds.
As they moved, Riley's mind drifted back briefly to yesterday —
To Seo's shy confession, to the innocent but genuine happiness that lit up her face.
And to the envelope he'd secretly passed into her hands.
